a single source, nothing corroborates it

Report back to the list after every gathering

Mailing a summary and publishing the decisions keeps the people who could not attend inside the conversation, which is what makes a group feel like one thing rather than a series of events. Naming the specific gap you need help with makes the ask small enough that readers actually answer it.

The method

1. 01

   After an in-person planning meeting, publish the outcome twice: mail a summary to the group list and post the decisions on the blog, so people who could not attend are still inside the conversation.

2. 02

   Crowdsource the gaps in your line-up from your own readers, naming the gap you have, so the ask is specific enough to answer.

What it returned

• For the third Independents Hall meetup Hillman committed in advance to both a Google Group email and a write-up of the discussion.

• With the schedule unfinished, Hillman asked for speaker nominations and said explicitly that he needed them from outside North America.

Sources

• Independents Hall Meetup #3Alex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · 2007-05-01
• wine, coworking, and the “People at Work” SummitAlex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · Obviously, there’s not much event without you. · 2016-02-01